The Conscience of MALIK Fraternity: Afrocentricity "Gone Wild"
Ancient Egyptian Proverb: "It is better not to know and to know that one does not know, than presumptuously to attribute some random meaning to symbols."
Source: Her-Bak: The Living Face of Ancient Egypt. I.e. giving arbitrary meaning to why this supposed "African Fraternity" was founded with two (2) greek letters (symbols) in its name...
Examples of Afrocentricity: "Gone Wild"
Common talking points from some members of MALIK Fraternity as well as from some "Black Greek"/"Latino Greek" college fraternities and sororities.
1.) "Greek alphabet actually derives from Africa" (Rhetoric by some MALIKs, "Black Greeks", & "Latino Greeks" in an attempt to justify the hypocrisy of wearing Greek letters)
2.) "Sigma and Psi are actually derived from African letters" (Rhetoric by some MALIKs that want to justify wearing the Greek letters: Sigma & Psi, by attempting to "Africanize" them)
2a.) "Although the original name of the organization has transcended from MALIK Sigma Psi fraternity Inc., to MALIK Fraternity Inc; the meaning behind these symbols still remain sound in our values. Sigma and Psi, recognized as the 18th and 23rd letters of the Greek alphabet are representative of progress and man. The origins of these letters are said to have derived from the Coptic and Phoenician alphabet. The Sigma originates from a symbol used to represent the Nile River, which flows from south to north; hence it’s meaning of progress. The Psi originates from the early representation of man (with his hands in the air) in his worshiping state of humility to the sun god; as they believed that the sun was the source of all life. Other Arabic and Ancient Eastern Civilization influence is reflected in our organizations name." [Source: MALIK Fraternity National Site (Accessed on 12/25/10)]
ANALYSIS:
Total and Utter Nonsense... basically a bunch of greek-wanna-be b.s.
Yes, there are some scant theories that are the basis of the above statements. Proponents will often reference books like Stolen Legacy, Black Athena, and like-minded Afrocentric texts that have a minutiae of validity. But for the most part... let's start being honest with ourselves and to the public. We seriously need to stop this nonsense of "Africanizing" everything. Its like placing an "X" hat on Western history to justify/excuse our Afrocentric myths. Much like Lefkowitz's book "Not Out of Africa" challenges. Now while we of course do not agree with much of Lefkowitz's analysis, (and know that she had her own agenda) we do agree however that the nonsense of "Africanizing" Western history to suit our own agenda & talking points has gotten ridiculously out of hand and needs to stop.
Yes, the origins of man have been shown to emanate from the loins of the continent we call Africa. However, scholars like Diop, Ben-Jochannan, James, Van Sertima, J.A. Rogers, Chancellor Williams do not need to be taken out of context. Let their work speak for themselves. They approached scholarship from an African perspective.
Sundiata said:
Until the publication of Bernal's work in the late 1980s, the White academic establishment took little notice of what was emerging as "Afrocentrism." However, Black nationalist historiography had already put down deep roots in the African American community. In the nineteenth century writers like Edward Blyden and Martin Delany pointed the way. In the twentieth century J. A. Rogers and others emphasized the Black contributions to "High Cultures" of the Old World, contributions which they argued had been for too long denied. At the same time, religious groups, like the Moorish Science Temple and, later, the Nation of Islam, created a completely alternative cosmology and narrative for African Americans. This responded to the predominant ideology of White supremacy and created a universal history in which the North American racial hierarchy was turned on its head. Blacks were the original people and whites were a devolution. The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and the following Black Power movement increased the need for a broader new history. Works like Chancellor Williams' The Destruction of Black Civilization and George James' Stolen Legacy became focal texts. The Senegalese historian Cheikh Anta Diop's works were translated into English; these were taken up by many Black Studies departments and became part of the alternative Black Studies canon.
Afrocentrists argue that Blacks must see themselves through Black eyes, as agents of history, rather than as simply subjects of investigation. Their view must proceed from an "inside place." Most emphasize the civilizations of northeastern Africa, namely Kemet (Egypt), Nubia, Axum, and Meroe. Early on it was truly a "Black Thing," involving as it did its own conferences, publishing and networks. By 1978 Jay Carruthers' Kemetic Institute was established in Chicago. A year later a similar thematic course was taken by the Institute of Pan-African Studies in Los Angeles. A meeting in that city in 1984, the First Annual Ancient Egyptian Studies resulted in the organization of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations. In the same year Ivan Van Sertima's Nile Valley Civilization group held a major conference. His Journal of African Civilization became a major diffusion point in the burgeoning corpus of Afrocentric literature
Many of Afrocentrism's critics have chosen to battle these straw men (and women). However, "Afrocentrists do not want," according to Asante, "to replace Greece with Egypt. They want a proper recognition of African civilization." Afrocentrism "is not, nor can it be based on biological determinism." The movement is open to "anyone willing to submit to the discipline of learning the concepts and methods. . . ." The question is not whether or not Cleopatra was Black — Asante argues that she was not — but about "a proper recognition of African civilization." Maulana Karenga uses the term "Afrocentricity" to avoid any perception that it has aims equivalent to the "Eurocentrism" it seeks to replace. In seeking to delimit it, he has encouraged its adherents to be autocritical. They must not "promote a static, monolithic and unreal concept of African culture which denies or diminishes its dynamic and diverse character." They must also not "overfocus on the Continental African past at the expense of recognizing the African American past and present as central to and constitutive of African culture and the Afrocentric enterprise."
Source: http://way.net/dissonance/sundiata.html, http://wysinger.homestead.com/keita.html
Where do you fall?
Truth Seekers: Who base their opinions on empirical evidence from reputable sources.
Eurocentrists: Who base their opinions on any "Western" scholarship that does not compromise their belief in the superiority of Western Culture by attacking any claims of Afroasiatic cultural influence on Ancient Greece and denying the Africanness of Egyptian civilization to insure that denial in favor of the less offensive "Near Eastern" construct.
Radical Afrocentrists: Who base their opinions on non-issues such as the Blackness of Cleopatra, Hannibal, all of Phoenicia and just about anyone who was possibly not European.
A Psycho-Analysis:
Some Blacks, Latinos and other people of color are sadly so infatuated with wanting to be identified with the college Greek system, but yet know somewhat that it is hypocritical to their organization's culture-centric message. They come up with this revisionist history in an attempt to justify/excuse their sub-conscious yearning to wear Greek letters. A self-hate and/or love/hate dynamic. A total mind-f@ck!
A Little Alphabet History
While there are many differences between the many variants of the early Greek alphabet, enough similarities exist to suggest the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet once and splintered rapidly into local variants rather than adopting multiple times. The Greek alphabet was also the basis for Glagolitic, Cyrillic, and Coptic, Gothic scripts among others.
Traditionally the Greeks held that their alphabet was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, and many scholars agree with this as well. A quick look at the signs show the similarity between the two systems. However, the Greeks modified the set of signs they had received to suit the sounds in their language. They also changed some letters to systematically represent vowels.
The earliest Greek inscriptions actually recorded several slightly different scripts. Some seek to explain this diversity by separate instances of borrowing from Phoenician. However, the similarities between the different variants are extremely overwhelming, and imply the presence of a very early Greek script that later developed into the local variants. This theory is much more widely accepted than the multiple borrowing theory.
The Phoenician script is an important "trunk" in the alphabet tree, in that many modern scripts can be traced through it. Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek scripts are all descended from Phoenician. Phoenician is a direct descendent of the Proto-Sinaitic script. Like Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician is a "consonantal alphabet", also known as "abjad", and only contains letters representing consonants. Vowels are generally omitted in this phase of the writing system.
The Coptic script was adopted from the Greek alphabet approximately around the 2nd century CE. The Copts adopted the Greek alphabet completely even though many of the Greek letters represent sounds that didn't exist in Egyptian. Instead they kept the extraneous letters for their numeric values. In addition, the Copts added 5 letters, taken from the Egyptian script, that represent sounds that don't exist in Greek. The final count of signs was 32, and neatly represented the Egyptian language at the beginning of the first millenium CE.
Source: http://www.ancientscripts.com/alphabet.html
Sigma & Psi Are Greek (Plain and Simple). No African Connection Whatsoever
Also, stop with the Coptic & Phoenician references too. Its all utter nonsense. There is no evidence supporting that Psi=Man nor any evidence that Sigma = Movement/Progress.
Psi - 23rd letter of the Greek Alphabet.
Greek also introduced three new consonant letters, Φ (phi), Χ (chi) and Ψ (psi), appended to the end of the alphabet as they were developed. These consonants made up for the lack of comparable aspirates in Phoenician. In western Greek, Χ was used for /ks/ and Ψ for /kʰ/ — hence the value of the Latin letter X, derived from the western Greek alphabet. The origin of these letters is disputed.
Sigma - 18th letter of the Greek Alphabet.
The existence of the two competing letters Sigma and San is believed to be due to confusion during the adoption of the Greek alphabet from the Phoenician script, because Phoenician had more sibilant (s-like) sounds than Greek had Greek Sigma got its shape and alphabetic position from Phoenician Šin (
Phoenician sin.svg
), but its name and sound value from Phoenician Samekh. Conversely, Greek Xi (Ξ) got its shape and position from Samekh (
Phoenician samekh.svg
), but its name and sound value from Šin. The original name of sigma may have been "San" (the name today associated with another, obsolete letter), The modern name "Sigma", in turn, was a transparent Greek innovation that simply meant "hissing", based on a nominalization of a verb σίζω (sízō, from an earlier stem *sigj-, meaning 'to hiss').
Recommendations to some MALIKs and "Black Greeks/Latino Greeks":
Stop teaching myths as history and simply teach the truth. There are innumerable African & Latino historical contributions without having to resort to & always trying to "put an X cap on Western history".
Learn your history and stop "Africanizing" Western history. If you really knew your history you would know that there was no need to do such nonsense because African/Indigenous history is endless and bountiful. Do your research and stop regurgitating dated and baseless talking points.
Stop using 1-2 books to validate and perpetuate the "Stolen Legacy" position ("Greek culture is actually stolen African culture").
How can you say that the Greek alphabet came from the Coptic Alphabet when the Copts used the Greek alphabet to create their own?
How can you say that the Sigma and Psi are Phoenician when neither of those letters appear ANYWHERE on the Phoenician scripts or epigraphs?
Where is the research that proves these claims "o seekers of knowledge"?
Produce them or be labelled as hypocrites & liars.
Afrocentricity "Gone Wild"
Ancient Egyptian Proverb:
"It is better not to know and to know that one does not know, than presumptuously to attribute some random meaning to symbols."
Source: Her-Bak: The Living Face of Ancient Egypt.
I.e. giving arbitrary meaning to why this supposed "African Fraternity" was founded with two (2) greek letters (symbols) in its name...
Examples of Afrocentricity: "Gone Wild"
Common talking points from some members of MALIK Fraternity as well as from some "Black Greek"/"Latino Greek" college fraternities and sororities.1.) "Greek alphabet actually derives from Africa"
(Rhetoric by some MALIKs, "Black Greeks", & "Latino Greeks" in an attempt to justify the hypocrisy of wearing Greek letters)
2.) "Sigma and Psi are actually derived from African letters"
(Rhetoric by some MALIKs that want to justify wearing the Greek letters: Sigma & Psi, by attempting to "Africanize" them)
2a.) "Although the original name of the organization has transcended from MALIK Sigma Psi fraternity Inc., to MALIK Fraternity Inc; the meaning behind these symbols still remain sound in our values. Sigma and Psi, recognized as the 18th and 23rd letters of the Greek alphabet are representative of progress and man. The origins of these letters are said to have derived from the Coptic and Phoenician alphabet. The Sigma originates from a symbol used to represent the Nile River, which flows from south to north; hence it’s meaning of progress. The Psi originates from the early representation of man (with his hands in the air) in his worshiping state of humility to the sun god; as they believed that the sun was the source of all life. Other Arabic and Ancient Eastern Civilization influence is reflected in our organizations name." [Source: MALIK Fraternity National Site (Accessed on 12/25/10)]
ANALYSIS:
Total and Utter Nonsense... basically a bunch of greek-wanna-be b.s.
Yes, there are some scant theories that are the basis of the above statements. Proponents will often reference books like Stolen Legacy, Black Athena, and like-minded Afrocentric texts that have a minutiae of validity. But for the most part... let's start being honest with ourselves and to the public. We seriously need to stop this nonsense of "Africanizing" everything. Its like placing an "X" hat on Western history to justify/excuse our Afrocentric myths. Much like Lefkowitz's book "Not Out of Africa" challenges. Now while we of course do not agree with much of Lefkowitz's analysis, (and know that she had her own agenda) we do agree however that the nonsense of "Africanizing" Western history to suit our own agenda & talking points has gotten ridiculously out of hand and needs to stop.
Yes, the origins of man have been shown to emanate from the loins of the continent we call Africa. However, scholars like Diop, Ben-Jochannan, James, Van Sertima, J.A. Rogers, Chancellor Williams do not need to be taken out of context. Let their work speak for themselves. They approached scholarship from an African perspective.
Sundiata said:
Until the publication of Bernal's work in the late 1980s, the White academic establishment took little notice of what was emerging as "Afrocentrism." However, Black nationalist historiography had already put down deep roots in the African American community. In the nineteenth century writers like Edward Blyden and Martin Delany pointed the way. In the twentieth century J. A. Rogers and others emphasized the Black contributions to "High Cultures" of the Old World, contributions which they argued had been for too long denied. At the same time, religious groups, like the Moorish Science Temple and, later, the Nation of Islam, created a completely alternative cosmology and narrative for African Americans. This responded to the predominant ideology of White supremacy and created a universal history in which the North American racial hierarchy was turned on its head. Blacks were the original people and whites were a devolution. The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and the following Black Power movement increased the need for a broader new history. Works like Chancellor Williams' The Destruction of Black Civilization and George James' Stolen Legacy became focal texts. The Senegalese historian Cheikh Anta Diop's works were translated into English; these were taken up by many Black Studies departments and became part of the alternative Black Studies canon.
Afrocentrists argue that Blacks must see themselves through Black eyes, as agents of history, rather than as simply subjects of investigation. Their view must proceed from an "inside place." Most emphasize the civilizations of northeastern Africa, namely Kemet (Egypt), Nubia, Axum, and Meroe. Early on it was truly a "Black Thing," involving as it did its own conferences, publishing and networks. By 1978 Jay Carruthers' Kemetic Institute was established in Chicago. A year later a similar thematic course was taken by the Institute of Pan-African Studies in Los Angeles. A meeting in that city in 1984, the First Annual Ancient Egyptian Studies resulted in the organization of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations. In the same year Ivan Van Sertima's Nile Valley Civilization group held a major conference. His Journal of African Civilization became a major diffusion point in the burgeoning corpus of Afrocentric literature
Many of Afrocentrism's critics have chosen to battle these straw men (and women). However, "Afrocentrists do not want," according to Asante, "to replace Greece with Egypt. They want a proper recognition of African civilization." Afrocentrism "is not, nor can it be based on biological determinism." The movement is open to "anyone willing to submit to the discipline of learning the concepts and methods. . . ." The question is not whether or not Cleopatra was Black — Asante argues that she was not — but about "a proper recognition of African civilization." Maulana Karenga uses the term "Afrocentricity" to avoid any perception that it has aims equivalent to the "Eurocentrism" it seeks to replace. In seeking to delimit it, he has encouraged its adherents to be autocritical. They must not "promote a static, monolithic and unreal concept of African culture which denies or diminishes its dynamic and diverse character." They must also not "overfocus on the Continental African past at the expense of recognizing the African American past and present as central to and constitutive of African culture and the Afrocentric enterprise."
Source: http://way.net/dissonance/sundiata.html, http://wysinger.homestead.com/keita.html
Where do you fall?
A Psycho-Analysis:
Some Blacks, Latinos and other people of color are sadly so infatuated with wanting to be identified with the college Greek system, but yet know somewhat that it is hypocritical to their organization's culture-centric message. They come up with this revisionist history in an attempt to justify/excuse their sub-conscious yearning to wear Greek letters. A self-hate and/or love/hate dynamic. A total mind-f@ck!A Little Alphabet History
While there are many differences between the many variants of the early Greek alphabet, enough similarities exist to suggest the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet once and splintered rapidly into local variants rather than adopting multiple times. The Greek alphabet was also the basis for Glagolitic, Cyrillic, and Coptic, Gothic scripts among others.Traditionally the Greeks held that their alphabet was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, and many scholars agree with this as well. A quick look at the signs show the similarity between the two systems. However, the Greeks modified the set of signs they had received to suit the sounds in their language. They also changed some letters to systematically represent vowels.
The earliest Greek inscriptions actually recorded several slightly different scripts. Some seek to explain this diversity by separate instances of borrowing from Phoenician. However, the similarities between the different variants are extremely overwhelming, and imply the presence of a very early Greek script that later developed into the local variants. This theory is much more widely accepted than the multiple borrowing theory.
The Phoenician script is an important "trunk" in the alphabet tree, in that many modern scripts can be traced through it. Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek scripts are all descended from Phoenician. Phoenician is a direct descendent of the Proto-Sinaitic script. Like Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician is a "consonantal alphabet", also known as "abjad", and only contains letters representing consonants. Vowels are generally omitted in this phase of the writing system.
The Coptic script was adopted from the Greek alphabet approximately around the 2nd century CE. The Copts adopted the Greek alphabet completely even though many of the Greek letters represent sounds that didn't exist in Egyptian. Instead they kept the extraneous letters for their numeric values. In addition, the Copts added 5 letters, taken from the Egyptian script, that represent sounds that don't exist in Greek. The final count of signs was 32, and neatly represented the Egyptian language at the beginning of the first millenium CE.
Source: http://www.ancientscripts.com/alphabet.html
Sigma & Psi Are Greek (Plain and Simple). No African Connection Whatsoever
Also, stop with the Coptic & Phoenician references too. Its all utter nonsense.There is no evidence supporting that Psi=Man nor any evidence that Sigma = Movement/Progress.
Psi - 23rd letter of the Greek Alphabet.
Greek also introduced three new consonant letters, Φ (phi), Χ (chi) and Ψ (psi), appended to the end of the alphabet as they were developed. These consonants made up for the lack of comparable aspirates in Phoenician. In western Greek, Χ was used for /ks/ and Ψ for /kʰ/ — hence the value of the Latin letter X, derived from the western Greek alphabet. The origin of these letters is disputed.
Sigma - 18th letter of the Greek Alphabet.
The existence of the two competing letters Sigma and San is believed to be due to confusion during the adoption of the Greek alphabet from the Phoenician script, because Phoenician had more sibilant (s-like) sounds than Greek had
Greek Sigma got its shape and alphabetic position from Phoenician Šin (
Conversely, Greek Xi (Ξ) got its shape and position from Samekh (
The original name of sigma may have been "San" (the name today associated with another, obsolete letter), The modern name "Sigma", in turn, was a transparent Greek innovation that simply meant "hissing", based on a nominalization of a verb σίζω (sízō, from an earlier stem *sigj-, meaning 'to hiss').
Recommendations to some MALIKs and "Black Greeks/Latino Greeks":